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The Wootility – Wooting one’s Utility Software
The Wootility (Wooting one’s Utility software) can be downloaded from their website. The latest version at the time of this writing and the one that we used for this review is Wootility 2.3.4. The previous versions were quite unpolished and lacks some features. That’s one reason why we didn’t immediately write our review after a few weeks or months of using the Wooting one.
The Wootility is quite simple and easy to use, BUT I think you’ll spend way more time configuring and tweaking or fine tuning the settings here than getting used to the keyboard itself. The main profile is the Digital Profile, this profile is the universal profile and the default profile whenever you use the Wooting one. You can change the lighting effects, actuation point and some (shortcut) key binding for the other profiles. Like I said earlier, on the earlier versions of the Wootility, there was no lighting effects at all. It’s good that the team has already incorporated this feature in the newer versions of Wootility.
Most of the lighting effects you see on the screenshot (in the middle) are the usual effects you see on many RGB-enabled keyboards. However there is a cool effect called Touch, it turns the Function keys as an indicator as to how deep have you pressed a certain key. The first few function keys (F1~) will lit if you press a key in the first few millimeters. Then it will fully lit all 12 function keys once you fully pressed a key.
After the Digital profile, you can save up to three Analog Profiles. The options are the same for each profile page. You can choose the input type of the current profile, whether Xinput or Directinput. Depending on the game you play, this will have an effect on the controls. You’ll also need to map each key if you plan to use this feature. Disabling the “digital settings” will fully turn the keyboard into an analog control. Windows shortcut keys like “Alt + Tab” or “Ctrl + Alt + Del” will not function once you disable digital keys.
It was quite annoying at first when I tried this with Final Fantasy XV. There is a certain learning curve and you’ll need a bit of time before getting used to it. Good thing that you can easily switch from analog mode to digital mode by simply hitting the “Mode” key on the Wooting one, just beside the Pause key and above Page Up key. You can also set how deep you want the keys to actuate by adjusting the Actuation point slider.
Once you enable or switch to analog, you can change how the keys behave. There are 5 presets if you don’t want to mess with the graph. You can also adjust each key point depending on your preference. It’s really up to you and your preference at this point. I’ll include Wooting’s video below explaining how this whole analog curve works. Pay attention!
The DKS or Double Keystroke feature is still very experimental, but it work wonders if implemented or used properly. Currently, the Wooting one doesn’t have any macro features. So this DKS is similar to a macro key function, except that you can actually assign two functions (or commands) in just one key.
The Wooting one can recognize two input points on a single keystroke, we know that by now. Enabling DKS, you can set different commands or key inputs on each input points. For example, on the Arrow up key, I would like to bind W on the first keystroke action, around 2.0mm. Then on keystroke action 2 at around 3.0mm I would bind the command Shift + W. When I press the arrow up key at around 2.0mm, my character would just move or walk. And when I press all the way down, or starting at 3.0mm, it would start to run since shift + w is usually a command for running.
This feature really depends on what game or what type of game you play. It’s different from one game to another and you can put your creativity or your technique to the test.
There’s also a profile manager where you can manage and import profiles. And the last options are for updating the Wootility and disabling the Xinput or resetting the keyboard.
Again, the Wootility enables you to fully customize the Wooting one; depending on the game you play and how you want to play it. You’ll definitely need to spend some time tweaking and setting things to fully suite your preference and style.
